[Discuss] data caps

[Jim Gasek]

Yes Rich, but poles are mainly on public land, and local government negotiates with vendors (especially telco vendors) who may be allowed permission to provide/sell in a certain town/area.  RCN is a great example.  Also, cell phone vendors must negotiate with localities (often time they bribe government officials with free cell phones) regarding towers.  They claim to have the ability to bypass localities (FCC/Federal jurisdiction), but they don't, imho.  

When the power company owns the pole, all others pay rent to use them (but, I think fees regulated/must be reasonable?).  When the phone company (remember, used to be a ~government monopoly, Bell System) owns the pole, the electric company pays rent, or some kind of tradeoff for their generosity elsewhere.   

This whole area, exclusive ownership of the "last mile", was the subject of the Telecommunications Act; opening "access" to the last mile, in the name of competition.  Injecting some free market goodness, into non-free market situations.  

I worked for a CLEC in early 00's, and implementation, and interpretation of the Act was hotly debated.   I believe incumbent carriers, highly disincentivised to cooperate, did indeed not fully cooperate (to put it mildly).  Some would say that "opening up to all-comers" was not fair to incumbents.  "What joke of a company do we welcome into the data center this week?".

Of course, many, many telco (and other) startups failed when the ez-finance of the tech bubble dried up.   First finance was irrationally easy, then it was irrationally hard.
 
I know that out near Fitchburg, Unitel was so awful after storms that localities were seeking to allow access to "competing" power companies.   The whole concept of "competing" gets blurred in these quasi-governmental situations.   Just keep in mind- the problem isn't with the free market, it is with the interface to the non-free market/legacy components.

I heard a rumor that ROI on FIOS is 9 years.

Thanks,
Jim Gasek

--- richard.pieri at gmail.com wrote:

From: Rich Pieri <richard.pieri at gmail.com>
To: discuss at blu.org
Subject: Re: [Discuss] data caps
Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2013 10:50:10 -0500

On Tue, 8 Jan 2013 10:31:20 -0500
Matt Shields <matt at mattshields.org> wrote:

> Don't get me wrong, I think Comcast and other's should pay a fee for
> using public polls or digging in the ground to run their lines.  The

Utility poles and underground utility ways are not public property even
if the land they are on/in is. They're typically owned by either the
telephone or power company which installed them.

-- 
Rich P.
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